Katherine R. Miller

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah

  Franța, 1939. În liniștitul orășel Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac își ia rămas-bun de la soțul ei, Antoine, întrucât acesta pleacă pe front. Ea nu crede că naziștii vor invada Franța... și totuși, soldații își fac apariția, mărșăluind în număr mare, în convoaie de camioane și tancuri, în avioane care înnegresc văzduhul și bombardează ținuturile locuite de oameni nevinovați. Când un căpitan neamț își stabilește cartierul general în casa lui Vianne, ea și fiica sa au două opțiuni: fie să locuiască sub același acoperiș cu dușmanul, fie să piardă totul. Fără hrană și bani, deznădăjduită în timp ce pericolul pândește după fiecare colț, tot mai amenințător, Vianne e silită să facă alegeri imposibil de îndurat pentru a-și ține familia în viață. Sora sa, Isabelle, este o puștoaică rebelă de optsprezece ani, aflată în căutarea unui țel în viață cu toată pasiunea necugetată specifică tinereții. Pe când mii de parizieni se retrag din capitală, trecând prin ororile războiului, ea îl întâlnește pe Gaëtan, un partizan care crede că Franța poate lupta cu naziștii, și se îndrăgostește nebunește de el. Dar când el o trădează, Isabelle se alătură Rezistenței fără a se uita în urmă, și, riscându-și viața zilnic, o salvează pe a altora.

Privighetoarea

Nona G

I should know better... After reading Winter Garden, I said to myself I was done with Kristin Hannah. One book was enough to form an impression. But after reading the reviews for that one and seeing how many people praised The Nightingale, saying it's so much better than "Winter Garden", I caved. After all, I like historical fiction as a genre and especially books set during WWII.

But I should have listened to my gut feeling. Hannah just... cannot write. I'm sorry, but I don't understand how these books get these high ratings. Her writing is clicheic to the point of boredom. She writes like a teenager would. Basic words forming basic phrases. Repetition upon repetition, with no actual purpose than to stretch the book as thin as possible. Like she has to fill a pie pan that's too big for the dough she made.

This is supposed to be the heart-breaking story of two French sisters during WWII, each playing her own role in the war and trying to survive the five excruciating years without losing themselves and their life principles. It could have been good. The premise is there, tear-jerking, feminist, ripe. But it was irredeemably destroyed by this chick's writing. It was a melange of "she's so beautiful" every few pages, clipped simplistic phrases, cliches upon cliches, Americanisms, too many things being outright told to us instead of being revealed slowly and meaningfully, events happening only for shock-value, war being romanticized and, the worst of all, freaking historical inaccuracies! 

Do these people not do their research? Did Hannah actually spend time reading historical books on WWII? Papers from the era? Anything at all? Or did she rely on fashion magazines and Hollywood movies depicting all French people as wearing berets? 

(view spoiler)[Here's some of the things I absolutely hated:

Expressing measurements in cups. Doll, Europeans use grams, not cups. You're writing a book from a French woman's perspective!

What's up with Americans throwing their elderly parents in retirement homes and selling their houses?

All of Hannah's sisters are exactly the same - one rebellious and the other who likes rules and takes care of their family. In the end, they reconcile after a lifetime of conflict...

The only purpose of Sarah's death is to shock the reader. And what's worse, we read pages after pages of food and how beautiful Isabelle is, but the whole thing with Rachel and Sarah is dispatched in two pages.

They have no meat and are starving, yet they are raising freaking rabbits and chickens in the yard! I maybe get the chickens, they produce eggs, but the rabbits should have been stew. And how come no one stole them from their yard? It's beyond my comprehension.

Vianne had no money for food AND no pass to leave the village AND she was being supervised by Von Richter, yet she gets on a train to visit her sister in jail?

Julien getting all upset because his mother didn't tell him about her life is simply stupid. Kids are not entitled to know their parents' secrets. And him not knowing there were concentration camps during WWII? That's just stupid.

The ending is... blah. It's all about love, in the end. These women go through hell and all they're thinking about is a boy.

We have no idea what happened to Antoine or how/ why they got to the US. I actually feel that this whole moving after the war was completely out of character for Vianne.

Hannah throws in cliche French words (oui, mais non, merci) at every two phrases. Just to remind us that the characters are French. Which we already know but hell, let's show that we know some French words, why won't we? (hide spoiler)]

Did I actually like anything about this book? Well, I guess it's historical fiction about WWII, so it gets points for that. And I liked Vianne as a character. But that's about it. I'm done with this writer.

The Nightingale

Reviews